Machine for feeding and applying tips to a series of electrical components



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18 Sheets-Sheet l G TIPS TO MPONENTS BMnNAL/ V:'- CZK APPLY E l L 511:5*5'

FLY /TERMINAL ///sw APPLY TERMINAL SIDE R. ULLMAN El" AL MACHINE FOR F'EEDING AND APPLYIN A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL CO Tam sms"" TRIM 5ms "A" STACKNG R/ Nov. 22, 1960 Filed Oct. 2, 1956 smFTme AND /HOPPE /FiED Nov. 22, 1960 R. ULLMAN ETAL 2,961,027

MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES oF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS Filed oct. 2, 195e 1a sheets-sheet 2 Nov. 22, 1960 R. ULLMAN ETAL MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS Filed Oct. 2, 1956 18 Sheets-Sheet 3 Nov. 22, 1960 R. ULLMAN E-rAL 2,961,027

MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS 18 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 2, 1956 so 34 2682 'ne -lil C 'l' 59 Nov. 22, 1960 R. ULLMAN ETAL MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES 0F ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS 18 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed OCT.. 2, 1956 @my Fog 3,

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Nov. 22, 1960 R, ULLMAN TAL 2,961,027

MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS Filed Oct. 2, 1956 18 Sheets-Sheet 6 T57 fj Nov. 22, 1960 R. ULLMAN Erm. 2,951,027

MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS F'iled Oct. 2, 1956 18 Sheets-Sheet '7 Nov. 22, 1960 R. ULLMAN ErAL 2,961,027

MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS Flled Oct 2, 1956 18 Sheets-Sheet 8 Nov. 22, 1960 R ULLMAN ETAL 2,961,027

MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF' ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS Filed Oct. 2, 1956 y 18 Sheets-Sheet 9 Nov. 22, 1960 R, ULLMAN ETAL 2,961,027

MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS v 18 Sheets-Sheet 10 Filed Oct. 2, 1956 Nov. 22, 1960 R. ULLMAN I'AL MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS Filed Oct. 2, 1956 18 Sheets-Sheet 11 l Il rlh NOV. 22, 1960 R, U| MAN ETAL MACHINE FOR FEEIDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS Filed Oct. 2, 1956 18 Sheets-Sheet 12 NOV. 22, R ULLMAN ETAL MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYIN IPS TO A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPO 56 NTS Filed Oct. 2, 19 18 Sheets-Sheet 13 Nov. 22, 1960 R. ULLMAN ErAL 2,961,027

MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO i A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS Filed Oct. 2, 1956' 18 Shees-SheelI 14 'l -7C/,4/ 59o I i '-508 'XII 55o 5% 5&2

Nov 22, 1960 R. ULLMAN ETAL 2,951,027

MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS 18 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed Oct. 2, 1956 NOV. 22, ULLMAN TAL R. MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF' ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS 18 Sheets-Sheet 16 Filed 001'.. 2, 1956 Nov. 22, 1960 R. ULLMAN ETAL Filed Oct. 2, 1956 MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS 576-7517 lso 18 Sheets-Sheet 17 Nov. 22, 1960 R. ULLMAN Erm. 2,961,027

MACHINE FOR FEEDING AND APPLYING TIPS TO A SERIES OF' ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS Filed Oct. 2, 1956 18 Sheets-Sheet 18 United States MACHINE FOR FEEDNG AND APPLYING 'HPS T A SERIES 0F ELECTRECAL COMPNENTS Filed Oct. 2, 1956, Ser. No. 613,416

15 Claims. (Cl, 153-1) This invention relates to improvements in a component handling and tipping machine, and more particularly, to a machine designed and equipped with interrelated mechanism operable to receive electrical components each having a body and one or more leads projecting longitudinally respectively from opposite ends thereof, arranging said components for successive longitudinal feeding thereof to mechanism which trims one or both of said leads to a predetermined length, applies a terminal preferably to the outer end of one or both of said leads, and then shapes said leads by bending the same into predetermined configurations, whereupon said shaped components are in condition to be inserted into suitable electrical equipment such as a panel board provided with receptacle holes in circuit means into which the tipped leads of the electrical component are to be inserted.

Various types of electrical components are required for use in many types of electrical circiuts at present and particularly electronic circuits of various kinds. The term electrical component or component, as used hereinafter, is intended to embrace quite an extensive general class of electrical components including, for example, diodes, carbon resistors, pulse transformers, condensers, capacitors, and similar electrical items, each havin-g the general, common characteristics of comprising a body, usually cylindrical, provided with one or more electrical leads such as wire members projecting longitudinally respectively from oppositie ends of said body. Most, if not all, of said components have bodies including various kinds of electrical equipment which is sealed within said bodies. Further, these components usually generate a certain amount of heat during the operation thereof and it is preferable to mount said bodies upon a panel board or the like of an electrtic circuit so that said `bodies are spaced from the panel board and thereby may be ventilated by ambient air much more eiliciently than if said bodies merely were clamped directly against such panel board for example,

The bodies of such electrical components may be supported effectively from a panel board or the like if the leads projecting from opposite ends thereof are bent more or less at a right angle to the axis of the body, whereby the component has a substantially U-shaped configuration, the bent leadsthereof actually comprising the supporting means for the components. Such components may be installed in an electrical circuit on a panel board having a printed circuit thereon, for example, by providing said panel board with receiving holes or sockets directly connected within the circuit, and terminals are applied to the outer ends of the leads of the components, either before or after bending the same. Such terminals have a firm metal-to-metal contact with the lead ends and afford a ready means for connecting such ends of the leads into the circuit by being received within the holes or sockets within the circuit referred to above.

Heretofore, the leads of such components usually have been bent by the use of hand operated tools but such manual operations are time consuming, and hence costly.

The human element also enters the situation not only from the cost standpoint but also from the possibility of errors occurring. Thus, in an effort to reduce costs and insure the greater accuracy normally resulting from the use of automatic machinery, efforts have been made previously to provide certain types of machines to perform at least some of the more elementary operations required to produce a component having a terminal xed to at least one lead thereof.

The complexity of handling and performing operations upon components of the type referred to, however, Seriously has defied previous efforts to produce substantially automatic machines for feeding said components in desired order, trimming the leads to precise lengths, applying terminals to the ends of said leads, and shaping said leads into predetermined configurations. However, the constantly rising cost of manpower has intensified such efforts and the present invention represents, in a single machine, interrelated mechanism capable of performing automatically all of the aforementioned functions to produce shaped components having terminals applied to the outer ends of the leads thereof without requiring any manual effort in such production.

The present invention comprises an exemplary machine including interrelated and sequentially operated portions which function in timed relationship respectively to receive a batch-type supply of similar components arranged at random, sort and feed said components for movement in longitudinal succession to mean which arrange the same in stacked relationship one above the other for free movement into a stack wherein said components are substantially parallel to each other, sequentially deliver the endmost component in said stack to indexiat7 mechanism which arranges the components in desired spaced relationship to each other for movement along a path and, in the course of such movement, the excess length of some or all of the leads projecting from the ends of the bodies of the components are trimmed accurately to desired length so as to produce leads of precise dimensions, after which terminals are ailixed to the outer ends of one or both of said leads by multi-function die means which not only curl the terminals around the leads but also swage the same thereto and preferably produce a point on the outer end of each terminal which supplements an outwardly tapered shape into which the united terminal and lead is swaged to facilitate a rm physical contact of the terminals with sockets in the circuit board which receive the same; the components having terminals applied thereto then being moved to a portion of the machine which sequentially accepts the components and clamps the leads thereof to securely hold the components while the outer portions of some or all of the leads thereof are bent precisely into a predetermined conguration and the shaped components then are discharged from the machine.

Further, all portions of the above-described mechanism embodied in the present invention are adjustable so as to render the machine adaptable to sort, feed and stack components of uniform size selected from a relatively wide range of lengths and diameters of bodies and an extensive range of diameters and lengths of leads, the lead trimming and terminal applying portions of the machine are adjustable to permit the machine to trim the leads to a precise length within a substantial range of different lengths, and the portion of the machine which bends the leads into predetermined configuration also is adaptable to placing the bends in the leads at any desired Figure 3.

feed, step-wise, a series of terminals connected in 'strip form which are delivered to the terminal applying means, 'the feeding of said strip of terminals being controlled by the timed arrival and positioning 'of a component at said applying means, whereby, if for any reason a misfeeding of the components occurs, the terminal applying mechanism will not jam or otherwise misfunction. Further, if the strip of terminals, which preferably is coiled upon a rsuitable reel, should become tangled, 'whereby the feeding thereof to the applying7 means is im- Vfpeded, safety 'control means are provided which stop the 4operation of the entire machine. Additional similar control means also are provided for stopping the machine `when -t'he supply of terminals to one or the other of the rapplying means in the machine becomesexhausted.

The entire machine has been designed so as to be extremely compact and fool-proof in operation. The adjustment of the machine to handle components of a certain size of body and length of lead is accomplished readily and with a minimum of effort in the various portions of Athe machine which arrange and stack the components, index the components, trim the leads, apply the terminals, and bend the terminals to predetermined shape. All of the various portions of the machine which perform these functions operate in timed sequence relative to each other and are driven by interconnected actuating means, the operation of which is controlled by certain main control means as well as by safety control devices referred to above.

In general, as will be seen from the foregoing, the principal objections ofthe present are to provide an automatically operable machine which will increase the production rate of components shaped as described above over that possible at present, insurer uniformity in the products, and `permit Vready adjustment of all portions of themachirne to operate upon components selected from a wide range of sizes of length and diameters of bodies and leads. Also, the unique type of swaging and shaping of the terminals and leads accomplished by the machine results in Ahighly efficient mechanical connection of the terminals to the leads and of the terminals to the circuit boards, improved soldering conditions, and thereby avoids shortcircuit conditions in the completed products.

Although the invention primarily is adapted and arranged to operate upon components having bodies Vwith terminalsprojecting longitudinally from opposite ends thereof, it is conceivable that a machine embodying the principles of kthe invention may be used to apply terminals to the ends of circuit Wires, such as jumper wires, which are to be cut or trimmed topredetermined lengths and terminals applied to the ends of said wires for application of said wires to a circuit board for example. Details of the invention and of an'exemplary machine embodying the principles thereof, as well as the advantages and eicient operating characteristics of the machine, are setV forth in the following specication and killustrated in the drawings accompanying the same and "into an orderly stack from which they are delivered to an indexing means embodied in the machine. f

Figure 3 is a plan view of the arranging means illus- Y trated in Figure 2, onlyv the forward portion of said means being illustrated in Figure 3.V e FigureV 4 is a side elevation of the means shown in Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional vertical elevation taken on the line 5-5 at Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 3.

Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view showing two relatively adjustable elements comprising guide chutes and embodied in the arranging mechanism illustrated in Figures 2 through 4.

Figure 8 is a horizontal sectional view of part of the mechanism shown'in Figure 4 and taken on the line 8 8 of said figure.

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of Figure 8 to illustrate certain details of the mechanism shown in Figure 8.

Figure 10 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line l-l of Figure 8 for purposes of illustrating further details of the mechanism shown in Figure 8.

Figure 1l is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken on the line 11-11 of Figure 2 and illustrates details of means for discharging components from the lower end of a stack thereof in the arranging mechanism shown in Figure 2.

Figure 12 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 12-12 of Figure 11 and illustrating details of the discharge mechanism shown in the latter gure.

Figure 13 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the lineV 13--13 of Figure 4 and illustrating still further details of the discharge mechanism. Y

Figure 14 is a front perspective View of that portion of the machine which embodies the indexing means, terminal feeding and applying means, and the principal supporting mechanism for said means; the component stacking and lead bending means of the machine being omitted to simplify the view.

Figure l5 is a plan view of that portion of the machine which is illustrated in Figure 14.

Figure 16 is a front elevational view of that portion of the machine which is illustrated in Figure 14.

Figure 17 is a side elevation of that portion of the machine which is illustrated in Figure 14.

Figure 18 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 18-1S of Figure 16 but illustrating on a larger scale than in the latter iigure certain details of the component indexing means, and portions of the terminal applying means and control means therefor, parts of the elements of the mechanism being broken away to foreshorten the view.

Figure 19 is a vertical sectional View taken at a right angle to the view in Figure 18 and shown on the line 19*19 of Figure 18.

Figure 20 is a Vertical elevation opposite to that shown in Figure 18 as seen from the line 20-420 of Figure 16.

Figure 2l is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken generally along the line 21-21 of Figure 20 and showing details of the terminal feeding and applying portions of the machine.

Figure 22 is an exploded perspective view of a composite terminal applying die and the anvil structure which cooperates therewith.

Figure 23 is a fragmentary perspective view of the index mechanism and illustrates means for releasably holding the indexing mechanism periodically at various positions of advancement thereof.

Figure 24 is a perspective elevation of shaft means for vsupporting and adjusting the index wheels of the indexing mechanism.

Figure 25 is a fragmentary vertical sectional View taken on the line 25-25 of Figure 24.

Figure 26 is a diagrammatic plan view'of a series of components being moved along a predetermined path by Vthe indexing wheels of the mechanism and illustrating the various positions of the components as they are moved successively to the several trimming mechanisms for the Vleans andthe terminal applying units ofthe machine. 

